Capturing life’s moments — whether ordinary or special — is easier than ever.

Smartphone cameras have improved to such a degree that the images compare to those taken with single-lens reflex cameras made by Canon, Nikon and other big industry names.

Little wonder, then, that 1.8 billion photographs are uploaded and shared every day, according to the 2014 Internet Trends Report from the company Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

That’s a lot of photo albums.

With the dramatic increase in the number of photos taken, the traditional ways of preserving memories have given way to umpteen options.

“You can pretty much turn an image into anything,” said Jeffrey Horvath, manager of Columbus Camera Group, an equipment store in the University District.

“Even an iPhone has enough resolution (that) you can blow up really large-scale images and it would look great.”

The good news, Horvath added: “It’s a great time to be interested in photography because your money goes far and the options are limitless.”

Many people know photo-service giants Shutterfly and Snapfish. But dozens of other companies offer similar products.

The keys are determining what product you want, comparing prices and — if possible — waiting until worthwhile coupons or discounts are available. (Shutterfly and Snapfish have “Special Offers” or “Deals” tabs on their websites at all times.) Sign up for coupon mailing lists and wait.

Plain prints

The tried-and-true tradition of making physical copies of photos is no longer limited to traditional prints from Wal-Mart or CVS, although Wal-Mart and Snapfish do ring in as the cheapest options, at 9 cents for a 4-by-6-inch photo.

You can even go retro.

Origrami, based in Australia, prints photos in the style of Polaroids but without the need to wave the images dry. With free regular shipping, prices start at about $18 for the square-print package (36 4-by-4-inch photos).

Almost every service allows users to connect and upload photos from personal computers or social-media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

Postagram is a free app that turns photos from your smartphone, Instagram, Facebook and Dropbox into physical postcards. The 3-by-3-inch photos pop out of the card so recipients can keep them. Delivery to anywhere in the country costs 99 cents.

Social Print Studio, formerly Printstagram, ranks No. 1 on a Google search for printing Instagram photos. Sign in with your Instagram account and choose which photos you want printed in squares, photo strips or other styles. A 24-pack of square prints costs $12.

The popular photo-editing app Hipstamatic’s Print Lab offers four sizes for its archival paper prints (which are more durable and acid-free), starting at about $5 for nine prints.

Photo books

Like most everything else in the modern world, scrapbooking has gone virtual.

Blurb, which tops a Google search for photo books, offers five types of books — from a small square to a large landscape — for a price range of $12.99 to $49.99 for 20 pages.

Shutterfly gives users two options: the “custom path,” with which they can move and re-size photos, and choose backgrounds and layouts themselves; or the “simple path,” in which Shutterfly arranges the book in preset layouts. Here, the distinction is time and control. (Type A personalities probably veer toward the custom path.) Both options start at a regular price of $12.99 for a 5-by-7-inch photo book.

Snapfish offers three options: classic, custom and premier lie-flat books. The premier option doesn’t come cheap (an 8-by-8-inch book starts at about $50), so, if you desire its lie-flat pages, do custom, in which an 8-by-11-inch book starts at $29.99. A classic 5-by-7-inch book starts at $11.99. A custom 5-by-7-inch book costs only $1 more.

Mixbook has many options and customizations available on its website, but it also has an option to make an entire photo book on a smartphone via its app, Mosaic.

Mixbook also owns Montage, which has its own version of the simple path with its “auto-magic book design,” which automatically places photos into the best layout for a professional-looking design. Three sizes — 6-inch, 81/2-inch and 12-inch — are available, starting at $29.

Shark Tank fans will recognize the next suggestion: GrooveBook. Made famous on the popular ABC show, GrooveBook is an app to which users subscribe for $2.99 a month, entitling them to one monthly book of up to 100 photos. Users can keep the photos in the book format or tear them along the perforated edge to frame individually.

Wall decor

Decorating a home with photos needn’t be limited to simply framing a single photo.

Photos can be printed onto canvases for an artwork-ready, frameless look. One popular option today is a gallery-wrapped canvas, in which the image wraps around the exposed sides of the canvas.

Snapfish is the price champion, as its canvases start at about $33 for an 8-by-8-inch canvas. Lesser-known CanvasPop specializes in printing varying styles, from panoramas to mosaics, and sizes of canvases. Its prices begin at about $50.

Photos can be printed onto a single canvas or split onto several. The most common is splitting an image over three canvases in a triptych.

Canvases are just one alternative. Metal, wood and even scroll prints are available on Hipstamatic’s Print Lab for $60 to $80.

The scroll prints, which consist of canvas material between two wooden rods, elevate the image and make it seem as if it belongs in a museum more than a home.

Aluminyze specializes in printing photos on aluminum, which can be made into squares, hearts, ovals and more. Prices start at about $20.

Purposeful items

Companies offer dozens of ways that photos can be used on functional furnishings, from mugs and calendars to blankets and ornaments.

Another popular option is to personalize pillows. Stitchtagram offers a photo pillow for $68 — or $48 during its summer sale. (As usual, Snapfish and Shutterfly have similar options.)

A photo can even be incorporated into a kitchen backsplash thanks to ImageSnap, which prints photos onto ceramic tiles. With a gloss or matte finish, tiles range from 2 square inches to 12 square inches for $4 to $35.

Phone cases are another sought-after choice.

Casetify, formerly known as Casetagram, can be used online or with its app to create cases for smartphones, iPads, MacBooks and Apple Watches. With many layout patterns and types of cases offered, Casetify allows users to upload their own photos or choose from its archive of generic images. Prices start at about $40, but students can get a 20 percent discount.

Skinit not only offers phone cases ($20 to $35) but also sells “skins,” which are like vinyl stickers that provide a thin layer of protection for a device. Skins average about $15.

Nontraditional choices

In the grand scheme of things, a photo-decorated pillow or phone case isn’t groundbreaking. Shutterfly and Snapfish have been offering such options for years.

If you want something out of the ordinary, maybe you want to wear your heart on your sleeve.

A Suit That Fits, a British company based in London, offers consumers the chance to display a favorite image in the lining of a suit. The “Load Your Lining” option begins at about $160.

If you prefer photos to be edible, check out the option from Baking for Good of New York for "Instagraham cookies." A dozen of the photo-decorated sugar cookies ranges from $40 to $44.